SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

TWO goals from Manchester United's Angel Di Maria helped Argentina romp to victory over Paraguay and book their place in the Copa America final. Argentina now face Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez's Chile in the show-piece finale, after they put their opponents to the sword in a stunning second half display. United defender Marcos Rojo put them ahead after just 15 minutes, firing home Lionel Messi's free kick. PSG star Javier Pastore finished off a superb crisp counter to make it two but Lucas Barrios drew one back for Paraguay just before the break. But after half time, Argentina turned on the style and Di Maria netted twice in just six minutes to all but kill off the contest. Manchester City star Sergio Aguero and Napoli's Gonzalo Higuian scored late on to complete the rout and send the 1993 champions through.

Argentina v Paraguay Wednesday, 00:30 Live on Betfair Live Video "They wrote us off as dead," said Paraguay coach  Ramón Díaz . And he is right. This Paraguayan side was supposed to struggle with their best players ageing and a manager that was a downgrade of those who have taken them to recent tournaments. But draws against Argentina and Uruguay as well as a win against whipping boys Jamaica was enough to nab them second in group B and they're looking at a  second successive Copa America final . In their way is the small matter of World Cup finalists Argentina, who despite results have still been the best side in the competition. Their best performance probably came in the win over Uruguay, and they'll feel very fortunate to have edged past Colombia on penalties. But there is little doubt that if they  play to their potential  they will blow away anyone they come up against, even the hosts, Chile, who await them in the final. The obvious way to look at ...

An Eduardo Vargas brace pushed Chile within a game of their first Copa America title as the hosts eliminated 10-man Peru 2-1 in Monday's first semifinal. Chile, which hasn't reached the final since 1987, will await the winner of Tuesday's second semi between Argentina and Paraguay. Again playing in Santiago, the home side received some good fortune early on. Carlos Zambrano was sent off for a second yellow for a kick to the back of Chile midfielder Charles Aranguiz in the 20th minute -- an incident which placed Peru at a distinct disadvantage. Sure enough, Vargas gave the hosts an advantage not long after. Alexis Sanchez's crossed pinged back off the post and into the path of the winger, who tapped in from five yards out. Peru pushed for a goal early in the second half and got their equaliser in the 60th minute through a Gary Medel own goal after a dangerous Luis Advincula cross from the right. But the Peruvians' euphoria would be short-lived, and Var...

Rampant host nation Chile have stormed into the Copa America semi-finals this summer, having kept three clean sheets so far in the tournament and conceding only three goals in total, but they face surprise package Peru who possess plenty of firepower capable of causing an upset (7/1 with Coral to win). A late strike from QPR defender Mauricio Isla helped the Chileans clinch a narrow 1-0 triumph over Uruguay in their quarter-final clash, during a heated encounter which saw Edinson Cavani sent-off for an apparent altercation with Gonzalo Jaro, who will serve a three-match ban for his involvement. Peru enjoyed a more comfortable progression to this stage of the competition, after overcoming Bolivia 3-1, with Paolo Guerrero’s hat-trick earning Ricardo Gareca’s men a semi-final spot, as they aim to claim their third ever Copa crown. Jorge Sampaoli’s hosts will hope star striker Alexis Sanchez can continue his fine form and the clinical Arsenal attacker is  9/4 to fire Chile to ...

Paraguay  striker Derlis Gonzalez said his team are thinking about another Copa America shock against Argentina after sensationally dumping  Brazil  out of the competition on Saturday. The 21-year-old FC Basel striker was the hero for  Paraguay  after nervelessly converting the second-half penalty which leveled the quarter-final at 1-1 to ultimately force penalties. In the shoot-out the young attacker was again his side's lucky charm, stepping up to coolly send Brazilian keeper Jefferson the wrong way with  Paraguay 's fifth spot-kick to clinch a 4-3 win. Gonzalez, who served notice of his burgeoning talent last season by scoring a UEFA Champions League goal for Basel against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, paid tribute to his team-mates after a famous win. "To see my team-mates with tears in their eyes, you can't put a price on that," Gonzalez said. "Nobody trusted in us when we arrived here. But we're a very united team and we have more to give in t...

Bet 1: Back Paraguay to draw with Brazil at  3.60 Brazil topped Group C of the Copa America, but their performances so far have been less than impressive and I think Paraguay can take them to extra-time. The Brazilians overcame both Peru and Venezuala, but only just, and were beaten by Colombia in their second Group outing. They haven't played with any creative fluency, and the absence of Neymar for this game isn't going to help. Paraguay came through a reasonably tough Group undefeated, managing draws with Uruguay and Argentina. They dumped Brazil out of the tournament in a penalty shoot-out four years ago and will fancy their chances of repeating that shock. Bet 2: Back Barbados to beat St Kitts at   1.48 Reigning champions Barbados have made a perfect start to this year's Caribbean Premier League and they can make it four from four on Saturday. The Tridents had already overcome Guyana and Jamaica before thrashing Trinidad by eight wickets on Thursday, and th...

Argentina have lost just one of their last eight meetings with Colombia, winning five, and that pattern looks set to continue with Coral making the 2015 Copa America favourites odds-on at 10/11 for a quarter-final victory in 90 minutes. Regular punters will need no introduction to the stellar names on show in these nations’ respective attacks, but the Coffee Growers’ outside price of 7/2 is based on the fact their strikeforce has been missing in action in Chile. Colombia are surprisingly the lowest scorers still active in the competition with just a single strike during the group stage. That came courtesy of Inter Milan-bound centre back Jeison Murillo, who is a remote 16/1 to repeat that feat of netting anytime. Manchester United loan flop Radamel Falcao, Porto poacher Jackson Martinez and marquee Real Madrid signing of last summer James Rodriguez, who features in  a massively enhanced 11/1 matchday special wincast (in 90 minutes) , must all do better. Jose Pekerman, a n...

Peru v Bolivia The Peruvians collide with an underwhelming Bolivia outfit and are odds-on 10/11 favourites to overcome their opposition in the latest outing. Bayern Munich veteran frontman Claudio Pizarro will undoubtedly be Peru’s leading dangerman as they attempt to reach the semi-finals, and the towering marksman is 9/2 to strike anytime in 90 minutes.

Chile v Uruguay  This summer’s hosts pack a powerful punch, boasting the likes of astute Arsenal attacker Alexis Sanchez and Juventus midfield maestro Arturo Vidal in their ranks, both of which tasted silverware success with their respective clubs in the past campaign. Chile are odds-on 4/6 favourites to topple quarter-final opponents Uruguay, with star striker Sanchez available at 3/1 to score and earn his rampant nation a victory within normal time, continuing his fine form in front of goal.

Neymar’s post-match sending off last time out could cost the country he captains, Brazil, dearly. Over the course of a twisting and turning Copa America Group C,  Coral have lengthened the Samba Boys’ odds of winning the competition from 3/1 to now 4/1 , behind both hosts Chile as well as tournament favourites Argentina. Brazil boss Dunga will be under real pressure. This pool looked plain sailing for his Samba stars (odds-on 4/11 favourites to finish in the top two) and fellow World Cup competitors Colombia (4/9), but South America’s fringe nations Peru (6/1 outsiders) and next opponents Venezuela (4/6) have rolled with the punches. It means all four nations are on three points apiece going into the final group games. When Neymar was last missing from a competitive international, things swiftly went south for Brazil, who were battered 7-1 by Germany in last summer’s World Cup semi-finals. The Barcelona attacker has scored a third (9) of the Samba Boys’ 27 tournament goals o...

It promises to be a dramatic and thrilling final round of fixtures in 2015 Copa America Group B, as surprising Paraguay, currently joint-top pool leaders, take on Uruguay, who must defeat their rivals or risk the lottery of a third place finish. Argentina are also in action, featuring in duel with bottom-dwellers Jamaica, as the South American giants aim to take advantage of their competitors’ clash and finish in pole position. Uruguay v Paraguay  The pressure is beginning to mount on big-guns Uruguay, who can still advance with a draw ( 11/5 with Coral ) here, but will be in a precarious position should they lose, so will be expected to go for the jugular against surprise package Paraguay. La Celeste ( evens for victory ), have shown little of their true potential in the tournament so far, having scraped a 1-0 win over Jamaica and lost by the same margin to Argentina, but are undefeated in their past four outings against La Albirroja. Suspended striker Luis Suarez’s abse...

Brazil vs Colombia 01:00 Live on  Betfair Live Video Neymar  was in outrageous form for Brazil,  2.04 , the other night in what was only a narrow opening-game victory against Peru. Their clean sheet was blighted by a barely credible run of errors from  David Luiz  and then his goalkeeper as the Selecão conceded just their third goal in ten games under Dunga. If they can avoid those sort of freak occurrences - which may necessitate dropping Luiz - then they may have overtaken Argentina as favourites, if only for the sensational displays of Barcelona man Neymar. As good as he was in their opening game, Colombia were bad. Really bad.  Jose Pekerman  has some serious thinking to do. Always guarded in press conferences, Pekerman hinted that he could change back to a 4-2-3-1 for this game and that is a vital step to prevent them being blown away. But even if the stubborn Pekerman does change his spots, then his side will still be charged with stop...

Uruguay vs Paraguay - 20:00 Live on Betfair Live Video A repeat of the last Copa America final could have proven a nail biting group decider. As it happens, virtually any result sees both teams progress from Group B, but Uruguay  2.34 will still feel that they need a win to try and find a more comfortable way through the draw. Should the Uruguayans finish third then the quarter-finals will throw up at least one monster clash, but based on what we have seen you have to back the reigning champions. Paraguay's performance of great note came against Argentina, recovering from 2-0 down to draw with the World Cup finalists. However, the Albiceleste should have been out of sight and 99 times out of 100 they hold on to take all three points. Which is not to say the Paraguayan performance came with no merit, but this column doesn't see any way they're going to turn over Oscar Washington Tabarez's side. A 1-0 win over Jamaica means Paraguay will be in the quarter-final...